The car looks okay from about 20 feet away, when you get within 10 feet of the car you start noticing the swirl marks and graying haze of the paint, and the closer you get the more im haunted by those damn bird ***** etchings! Got the car for $6k

 

If it makes you feel any better that's less than I owe on my GS400, sickening how the market fell out from under these things not long after I bought.

Good luck with the paint correction, honestly if I were you I'd talk to a pro about doing the initial work and then maintaining yourself.

 

this is a simple fix myfriend.

step 1.wetsand all of paint lightly with 1500 wetsanding paper.use 3-m (wash car before and after doing this)

step 2..use 3m rubbing coumpound and buff all sanded ares to a shine with a buffer.(NOT A WAX BUFFER) .also you must use a yellow foam compounding pad

step 3.use 3-m foam pad polish and polish all ares that u buffed.they make polish for light and dark colors.and use the black foam polishing pad only!

step 4.was car to remove any excess compound or polish.dry with soft cloth or chamois.

step 5.apply 3-m hand glaze to all painted surfaces.let dry and remove with microfiber cloth just as you would remove a wax.

step 6.wax entire painted surfaces with(i recommend colinite insulator wax)
remove wax and your done.

i dont recomend trying this yourself if uve never buffed before cause you can easily (burn) the paint .especially on any painted edges.but if u do make sure to tape off any moldings and emblems to prevent burning them and always fold in your mirrors so u dont catch them with the buffer.check your local bodyshop or local detail shop to have this done.i normally get $500.00 to do this and it would take a day to do unless the paint was terrible then maybe 2 days.i recommend going to a bodyshop with the best reputation!

IF DONE CORRECTLY YOU WILL BE AMAZED BY THE RESULTS AND ITS WORTH 500 DOLLARS ALL DAY.

 

those etchings will sand out with 1500 wetsanding paper.see directions i posted below.as long as you have enough clearcoat left to sand them out

 

Don't tell someone not qualified to wetsand there car!
Are you insane?

Topic Creator:

You have some severe scratches and swirls.
Honestly, nothing by hand will give you decent results.
You are going to have to have professional buff it using a rotary buffer or,
you can "improve" the paint by purchasing:

Meguiar's G110 Dual Action Polisher
Meguiars M105
Meguiars M205
Meguiars Soft Buff 2.0 Polishing Pads
Meguiar's NXT 2.0 Tech Wax
Meguiar's Finishing Pads

Go to: www.meguiarsonine.com

if you are serious about learning how to fix it yourself. But, look around for a pro mobile detailer, or detailer shop.

 

Water sanding, especially an entire car, takes a significant amount of skill. The first time I attempted it, I didn't realize the paint was so thin on the trunk deck lid and went right through the clear and paint with hardly any effort. I had to have the entire deck lid re-painted. I'll wet sand touch-up paint or a scratch here and there, but much like drywalling - I'll leave it to the pros.

 

Hey megafast? You obviously cant read very well.I beleive i said in my post"I wouldnt reccomend doing this if uve never done it before"! If you took some time time to read maybe you could learn how to wetsand and buff like I did 16 years ago.

And why would you tell him him to go buy all this polish and compound and then bring it to a detail shop? Do you really think a detail shop is going to use the products he brings them to buff his car?I think not! They are going to use the products they have been using for years and the products they feel comfortable with using to achieve their results. THANKS

 

Calm down guys. Both of you are right in various ways as there isn't really a set way of doing this. Don't forget that

 

The remedy is pretty simple IMHO...take it to a reputable body shop, have them asses the situation and give options. Things like this should be left to professionals. Just because I know how to brush my teeth, doesn't make me a dentist.

 

This is a reply to moemistry and eyezack. You two are absolutely right.Cant we all just get along?lol

 

Let's keep it civil at the least, and preferably friendly guys...

I think this is an important thread and I'd hate to lock it up...

Carry on

 

Thanks for all the well thought out and experienced replies. After further review I've decided to not try and be a hero and recognize when I'm well over my head. I guess in the spring I'll start looking for a good detail shop. I got a list now to reference when I'm ready to DIY.